Where does the UW rank in the world?

Updated 5:29 pm, Tuesday, August 13, 2013

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The University of Washington enjoys a prestigious No. 27 ranking among the world's top 100 universities, in a list compiled by The Times Higher Education and Thompson Reuters. Click through the slideshow to see which universities made it in the top 10. less

The University of Washington enjoys a prestigious No. 27 ranking among the world's top 100 universities, in a list compiled by The Times Higher Education and Thompson Reuters. Click through the slideshow to see ... more

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO, SEATTLEPI.COM

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No. 10:

Yale University.

No. 10:

Yale University.

Photo: Uschools University Images, Getty Images

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No. 9: University of Tokyo, the highest ranking Asian university.

No. 9: University of Tokyo, the highest ranking Asian university.

Photo: (c) Gary Conner

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No. 8:

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), up from No. 9 in 2012 and No. 12 ranking in 2011.

No. 8:

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), up from No. 9 in 2012 and No. 12 ranking in 2011.

Photo: Julie Jacobson, Associated Press

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No. 7:

Princeton University.

No. 7:

Princeton University.

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No. 6:

Stanford University, down from No. 4 ranking in 2012.

No. 6:

Stanford University, down from No. 4 ranking in 2012.

Photo: Paul Sakuma, Associated Press

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No. 5:

University of California at Berkeley, the highest ranking of America's public universities.

No. 5:

University of California at Berkeley, the highest ranking of America's public universities.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

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No. 4

: University of Oxford, up from No. 6 in 2012 survey.

No. 4

: University of Oxford, up from No. 6 in 2012 survey.

Photo: BEN STANSALL

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No. 3:

University of Cambridge, highest ranking in Europe. Shown here is Professor Stephen Hawking in his office at University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England.

No. 3:

University of Cambridge, highest ranking in Europe. Shown here is Professor Stephen Hawking in his office at University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England.

Photo: Sarah Lee

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No. 2:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, again holding steady. This photo from 1999 shows the MIT Dome decorated to look like the Star Wars character, R2D2.

No. 2:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, again holding steady. This photo from 1999 shows the MIT Dome decorated to look like the Star Wars character, R2D2.

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No. 1:

Harvard University, which has held top rank year after year. Shown here is Oprah Winfrey during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies in Cambridge, Mass., on May 30, 2013.

No. 1:

Harvard University, which has held top rank year after year. Shown here is Oprah Winfrey during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies in Cambridge, Mass., on May 30, 2013.

Photo: Elise Amendola

Where does the UW rank in the world?

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The University of Washington has found itself starved of state support and not really appreciated as Seattle's largest employer, but enjoys a prestigeous No. 27 ranking among the world's top 100 universities, in a list compiled by The Times Higher Education and Thompson Reuters.

The annual ranking has the UW tied at No. 27 with the donor rich University of Texas at Austin.

The campus at Montlake ranks just behind Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and just ahead of New York University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The only other Pacific Northwest school to make the list is the University of British Columbia, ranked No. 31, down from a No. 25 rank in 2012.

The United States places 42 universities in the top-100, with the United Kingdom a distant second with nine. Australia has six universities on the list. Japan, Canada, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Germany all have five.

The rankings are product of a consultation process involving 17,554 leading academics from 149 countries, and involve evaluations of research (medical appears a heavy criteria) and the quality of teaching.

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Harvard tops the list, as it did in 2011 and 2012. It is followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and by the University of Cambridge in England.

There is a little shuffling from 2012. Oxford has climbed two places to No. 4 in the top-10, while Stanford has fallen from No. 4 to No. 6. The University of California, Berkeley, is at No. 5. Princeton is No. 7. UCLA is up a notch to No. 8, and has climbed from No. 12 two years ago. Yale is at No. 10.

Columbia University has risen from No. 23 in the 2011 ranking to No. 15.

Several universities mocked by snobby neighbors have reason to hold their heads high.

University of Michigan football fans used to bellow "Mooooooo" across the field at football games with rival Michigan State. Michigan is at a lofty No. 12, but Michigan State is in the top 100 at No. 74.

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The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh used to be nicknamed the "Height of Ignorance" by superior-minded Carnegie Mellon Students. Carnegie Mellon University is at No. 26 on the list, but Pitt is a not-at-all-shabby No. 78.

Purdue University, in Indiana, has been kidded for its team name -- The Boilermakers -- but comes in at No. 50.